Improvement in corn-planters



PATENT OFFICE.

MARTIN A. HOWELL,` JR.

, OF OTTAWA. ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORN-PLANTE'RS.

Spccilieation forming part ot' Letters Patent' No. 27,807, dated April l0, N60.

.T0 all when?, tf nmyicoucern:

Beit kno Yn that I, M. A. HOW'ELL. Jr., of Ottawa, `in t ie county of La Salle and State of Illinois, have, invented a new ,andy Improved Corn-Planter, and I do herebydeclare that the following is a tull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the. an nexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side sectional view of my i11- vention, taken in the line a 421Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a plan or top view of the-same; Fig, 3, a front elevation ofthe same; Fig. 4, a detached edge view of one of the rollers or wheels of the same, showing their operation. as -coverers Similar letters of reterenee' indicate corre-4 sponding parts in the several figures. This invention relates to a novel'seed-dropping device. whereby the seed may be dropped l evenly or uniformly and without the liability of the device used for the purpose becoming4 `choked or. clogged, the device also working ners, B B, shod at their outer sides with metal platestt a; which project down a short distance belmij'the'ont-er sides ofthe ru1me1s. The runners have an inclined lower surface, as shown clearly in Fig. 3, and they consequent-ly make furrows b, to receive the seed, with inclined bottoms/as shown clearly in Figa-4. The back part ofthe frame A is supported by wheels or rollers C C, the peripheries of which areinelined, corresponding with o1" approximating t-o the formsof the bottoms of the runners B, asshown clearly in- Fig; 3. The peripheries ofthe wheels or rollers C C are somewhat wider than the runners B B,L the runners and wheels being in line with each other. This is also shown iii-Fig. 3.v

0n the front part otLt-hclrame A there are placed two seed-boxes, D- D. one near each side ot' the frame, as shown in Fig. 2. and in cach seed-box there is placed a.- sccd-cup. l. said cup being attached toa shaft, F. which passes through the upper parts ofthe boxes D I), and has its hearings therein, as shown at c, Fig. 2.

have a tangential position relatively with the shaft F, so as to admit ot the ready discharge of the seed when said cells are brought in the proper position to discharge the seed. Each cell f is covered by a `tlap or valve, 71, which is attached to the outer side ot' theeup, as y shown clearly in Fig. il.

Tit-hin each seed-box D there is vplaced a vertical slide, G. These slides G are iittcd iu slotsz' in the bottoms o1' the boxes D, and serve as cutoiis,las will be presently show n. 'These slides are actuated by the movement of the seed-oups .E through tl ie medium ot' project-ions jj, attached to them. Across the upper ends of tlieseed-boxes D D traversebars Z' are pl acedone'at1.he front andthe other at the back part of each box.

The operation is as follows: The seed to bei planted is placed inthe seedcups and as the machine is drawn along the shaft F has a rocking motion given it by -means of a rodi` n, and arm be, the. arm If" being attached to thc shaft F; and therod a* actuated b v an'attend `ant or actuated automatically by anysuitable mechanism. 'Bv this rocking movement ot' shaft F the seed-cups E. are subjected to a simi` lar movement, andthe seedcellsfof the cups E alternately filled with seed, the cells tilling as they pass down and ascending' in a filled state. thesecd being discharged from them as they reach their culminating-point in consequence of the flaps or valves 71 being opcned by coming in Contact with the traverse-lnirs 1.', the seed i'all ing from thc cells f by its own gravity and into the seed-boxes D. The movement ot' thc slides G, which are actuated b v thc projet-tiem` j ofthecups E, issuch that thcpart ot'thc sccd boxes into which thc seed is dropped is closed hy said slides and retained until thc slide is moved to close the opposite sides to retain or hold the sccd dropped at thc other ends ol' cups. By this'arrangement the seed hasl two discharges hetorc being deposited in `the tu r `rows-to Wit7 one from the cells f and the'other from the boxes D, the latter beingneer the surface of the earth and insuring 'the proper disposition of the seed in the fnrrows. This seed-dropping arrangement is not liable to beeoine choked or clogged, and works with but little ilrietion. The seed is covered by the Wheels or rollers C, their` prominent or larger edges or sides slicing` the earth off fromone side of the furrows b, ind having :t tendency while covering the seed to force it up\va.rd's0 as to insure Aits being,` planted et e uniform depth. This will be `understood by referring to Fig'. 4, in which the position of the seed sdropped'is shown by solid red lines, andv the position given it bythe Wheels or rollers in covering is shown by red dotted lines.

I do not rconfine myself to the flaps or valves h for the purpose 0f retaining the seed in' tleir cells f until theproper time'of discharge for verious eqnivelentdevices may b e nsed.V

Having thns described my invention, what I claim as new, Vand desire to secure-by Letters Patent, is

l. The employment or use of rocking seeqcups. kE Ejplziced withinor above the seedboxes D `D;:imlfprovide'ad with seed-cellsfend ,flaps or valves h' or their equivalents;V t operate as and forthe' purposersetforth v In combination withthe rock-ing seemA cups E Eend seed-,boxes D 1),' the slidesor cutoffsG, operated fromthe rocking upsE, suba stantially as and for the the purpose set forth.k

MARTIN A., HOWELL. Je Witnesses:

l B.GIR0ME,

M. M. LivINGsTon. 

